Red Ribbons
by darlingrapunzel
Summary: Fourteen years later, Panem rises again. The reapings have begun for the 89th Hunger Games, and may the odds be EVER in your favor!
1. Reaping

**A/N: Hey guys! Some of you may recognize this title! I wrote a fic like this one a while back, but gave up on it. Well, I completely revamped and plan on continuing! Katniss's POV.**

**Reviews would be wonderful! Tell me what you think. I'll be more likely to continue if this is actually successful! Haha! Enjoy :)**

I sit on the white oak bench enclosed by book cases. The perfect summer scene of the meadow looks unreal. Wild flowers blooming, bees buzzing about; the sun is setting and the air smells sweet like honey suckle. The girl with the red ribbons in her runs around the meadow with her brother. Twelve and thirteen. Innocent. Naïve. The ribbons dance around her flowing hair. My daughter and my son.

For once in my life I can say I'm truly happy.

For me, happiness has been hard to come by. It's difficult to wake up in the morning and not know who will still be alive when you drift to sleep that night. It's difficult to envision them now, who they could be, what they could do. It's difficult to shed tears of remembrance, to mourn. My father…Prim. It's difficult to know that you had no control. You can't pick your fate, or anyone else's of that matter, you can simply sit on the sidelines and watch as the game unfolds before your eyes.

"Katniss?"

The boy with the bread appears from around the corner, leaning on the door frame holding a basket of bread. It's warm. He sees a tear glide across my smooth cheek. He wipes it away and kisses me as he takes a seat adjacent to me on the bench. He doesn't have to ask me what's wrong or assure me that everything will be fine. It's Peeta. He knows. I force a smile as he helps me up. It would be a lie to say I'm mentally well. Only half of my family stands to this day, doctors have flat out told me that metal effects caused by my experiences will never be repaired, no medicine can work to erase the painful images District 12 burning, the last time I saw the innocent, careful girl with the blonde braid steadily at work, Rue dying right before my eyes. Reaping after reaping and games after games, continuing on tomorrow as District 12 will, for the 89th time, gather in front of the justice building. Parents praying for their child's fate and children crossing their fingers. I carry the basket of bread to the dinner table as Peeta calls in Lara and Tanner from outside. We sit and we eat and we make small chatter, the nervousness in the air makes this obvious. Lara's first reaping is tomorrow and she is scared to death. Three slips will bear my children's names. Three slips in thousands. But of course the odds have certainly _never _really been in my favor. It takes me a moment to realize that no one has actually touched their food. Peeta and I start to clean the kitchen as Lara and Tanner scuttle up the stairs and get ready for bed. As I scrub down the pots, I can't help but think about the reaping. I was nervous yes, but never for myself. I always had someone else to worry about first before visualizing myself in an arena. Perhaps I should have thought that through more carefully.

I prepare for bed by brushing out my braid and dressing in my nightclothes. I plant a kiss on the Lara and Tanner's foreheads, laying their reaping clothes out before returning to my room and doing the same. From down the hallway I hear soft sobs from Lara's room. Seeing her so distressed almost brings me to tears. I try to comfort her. It's dark, and among her cries and blonde hair I feel as if I'm holding Prim. Comforting her the same way I did to my sister so many years ago. _Shhhhhhhhhh_. I sing.

_Just close your eyes  
>The sun is going down<br>You'll be alright  
>No one can hurt you now<br>Come morning light  
>You and I'll be safe and sound<em>

When I finished the strained cries are silenced and I know she is asleep.

I return to my room and lay in bed, consumed by my thoughts. Peeta and I barely talk. He knows I have a lot on my mind and he's a lot on his. I doze off, half haunted by a nightmare from the arena but then comforted by Peeta. After all these years, nothing has changed.

I wake the next morning to light streaming in through the window. The other side of the bed is cold. I inhale, bread is cooking downstairs. I hear Tanner laugh and can feel Peeta's smile when I remember that today is the reaping.

I fill my stomach with warm bread. I dress. I wipe Lara's tears as I braid her hair. Peeta and I join hands. Tanner gives me his ordinarily cocky smile, and I know he hasn't a fear in the world. United, we march towards the crowd. Families come from all directions. Only we come alone. Well, us and Haymitch. Still, the only ones who inhabit the homes of Victor's Village.

An almost carbon copy of Effie toddles across the stage in unreasonably high heels. Marnyx, is her name. She drones on and on flashing a surgically altered smile and giggling every now and then. She wobbles to the girl's reaping ball and I clutch Lara's hands. So many slips are in that ball. For a slight moment, I stop worrying.

But then that moment ends.

Lara Mellark is the name on the slip.


	2. The Capitol

**A/N: Here is chapter two… please review! **

I want to scream, I want to cry. I want to push away the Peacekeeper that pries our hands apart. My heart breaks, seeing her standing on that stage. I wish that I could scream the words "I volunteer." I would play those games one million times before seeing my children be forced to do so.

I tune out everything until my world shatters again as Marnyx pulls the slip from the boy's ball. Tanner Mellark, reads the slip. His cocky confidence is whipped off of his face as he walks forward to join his sister. I collapse in a coma of sobs, not even Peeta's arms can console me now. The odds are certainly not in my favor. Our favor.

My tears blur my vision, soften reality. Peeta guides me up the steps to the Justice Building as I realize that this is not our goodbye. I will not have to pretend to compose myself as my children assure me that they will try their hardest to come home, because as they are escorted out to the train station, Peeta and I will follow them, not as their parents but as their mentors. So as I open the door that contains both Lara and Tanner we all can't help but cry.

An hour later, the train chugs off from the District 12 station, en route to the Capitol. I can't help but cry. I can never help but cry.

**-Lara's POV-**

I sit and I wait. The train car's familiar hum is almost sickening now. I feel so contained, like an animal. I wish to run and to play and to laugh. I hate this. I hate how I feel so numb but so terrified. I hate how Tanner won't even talk or even make his usual stupid joke. I hate the Capitol. I hate Marnyx for picking my stupid name. And I hate the sound of her trill as she calls us to watch the other reapings from earlier that day. Reluctantly, I push the door open and make way to the main area of the train car. I know that Dad and Mom don't want me all held up in my room, but they more than anyone understand that I just need to be alone. I sit down in a velvet plush chair as the television hums to life and the viewing begins. District One brings two peppy but fierce blondes, Crystal and Onyx. I see my mom shudder at the resemblance of the girl from the girl from District One her year. Tanner and I watched their Hunger Games before. In secret. The cameras bring us to District Two next. Two at age fifteen. So these will be the dreaded careers we will face. District three brings us a girl like me, she is twelve, thin and tall, with wispy blonde hair and bright blue eyes. Her male counterpart is fifteen, too. The rest of the tributes tend to blur together, all between the ages of 14 and 17. I swallow. I understood that before I was to participate in the Hunger Games, but its different to see them, the girls and boys we will face in the arena, on television, being pulled from their families and forcing a smile for the Capitol cameras. The girl from three, Tanner and I stand out. I hope to be her ally.

After the next night, the trains pull in to the Capitol station. Everything here is grander than I'd ever imagined.

We are fed decadent feasts, and mom and dad encourage Tanner and I to eat as much as we possibly can. At first this sounded wonderful but I soon dreaded the stuffed, sickening feeling that followed meals.

The days seem to rush by, fittings and training. Last night, I dressed in a perfect white gown with my red ribbons and mounted the stage to be interviewed. This morning I trained and now…now Tanner and I sit, making strategies.

"We shouldn't wait up for each other," he says firmly, he may be young be he is intelligent. I'm somewhat disappointed though, at the thought that he will not wait for me before dashing away from the dreaded cornucopia. But he is right.

"Lara, you have to grab a pack and run out of there as fast as you possibly can. You know the cornucopia bloodbaths; please don't be part of this one. I'll do the same, try to follow me out if you can."

I nod. It is sort of comforting knowing I won't be going into the games alone. I have a built in ally that I know will never turn on me.

I catch glimpses of the girl from three here and there. I learn that her name is Maysa and I know that I would love to be allies with her. Her, Tanner, and I would be quite a team.

That night the training scores go up. Maysa and I both rank at 7. Tanner, 8; and the rest, mixes of sixes, nines and tens. I lay in my bed that night knowing sleep will never come. As the sun rises over my restless body that morning I feel dead. I sluggishly walk over to see the outfit laid out for me: Tight, black pants, a black tank top, a fitted brown jacket and nice lace up boots. I try to swallow and enjoy as much as I can, knowing that my next meals will either be nonexistent or random gatherings.

Tanner and I talk with mom and dad, and they tell us everything we already know. Mom looks like she's trying so hard not to cry. She ties the red ribbons into my hair as I hug her for what may possibly be the last time. I hug dad, too. And Tanner. Mom guides me to my platform and I rise to the arena.

**Sorry for the cliffhanger! I'll update soon! Things are about to get interesting…**

**Please review xx**


	3. The Arena

I'm almost blinded as I rise into the bright arena. I quickly glance around, this small outlet that contains the cornucopia is surrounded by a circle of trees. In the distance I see tall rock cliffs, and I glance through the trees and see a peaceful looking lake. It looks like the one in the woods that lies outside district 12. _**No… THINK, Lara**_. The brief moment that brings me back home is gone. I reenter the games. I focus on Tanner who is directly across from me and the clock that tells me 30 seconds remain until the games begin. I survey the cornucopia items. Weapons, in piles line the right side, while multi-colored backpacks line the left. I'm closer to the side with the backpacks, but I know I'll need to get my hands on a weapon. My eyes flash up and the clock strikes 10. 9. 8.

My heart is pounding in my ears.

7.6.5.

I'm shaking so fiercely I think for a moment I may set off my platform's explosive.

4.3.2

1.

Tributes dart from all directions. I don't realize how fast my legs are moving until I pick up a backpack. But now I race towards the side with the weapons, facing the people who had just grabbed them. And then I do something stupid. I run behind the cornucopia. I don't think anyone sees me. I'm turning around the back and I've got a clear shot to grab a weapon and conceal myself in the woods. I grab a knife on the outside of the spread and dart away. I've had to confront no one yet. And then I hear the canons-four in a row. I continue running and hear three more. I find a small brush I can crouch in and hear five more. They are the last of the canons I hear that day. The cornucopia bloodbath is over and the tributes have already been halved. Who is left? I wonder. Please not Tanner, I beg. I have no way of knowing until tonight but I pray. This place I've hidden in is nice, I decide. A slight ditch, concealed by brush. I can sit here completely hidden, and as long as I'm silent, I won't be found. I see the shoes of the career pack pass by after another ten minutes and then I'm left alone with the cheerful songs of the mockingjays that flutter above me in the trees. I finally decide to unzipper my backpack and survey the supplies inside. A water resistant blanket lays on top. Under that are packets of nuts, an (unfortunately empty) canteen, some sort of medicine, and matches. I'm especially thankful for the last item because I was not successful even once in starting a fire at the training center. I lay the blanket out over the dirt ditch and sit on top of it, alert with my supplies, carving drawings into the dried mud as I wait for sundown. I draw the meadow back home and fall asleep into a peaceful dream until I'm awakened by the anthem. The anthem! I poke my head out of the brush to see the faces in the sky. I see the boy from 3, both tributes from 5, 6, and 7, and 8, the girl from 9, the boy from 10, the girl from 11…and then the faces fade. YES! Tanner somehow managed to clear the cornucopia safely. But is he hurt? Has anything happened to him? All I can do is wonder and drift into shifts of sleep. I think of who is still left: the entire career pack still stands, the girl from three, the boy from 9, the girl from 10, the boy from 11 and both from 12. Since I slept earlier, I feel alright and decide that it's time to keep moving. As I move further into the forest, the trees get denser and I can more easily dodge the streams of moonlight flooding from the bare spots of the tree tops. I find bushes with berries here and there, and then I realize I'm just wandering. Where am I even going? I stop and I rest for a second before changing my path- towards the blissful pond I saw before, on my platform. It takes me until morning to reach it, and I climb high into a tree overlooking the water. Lily pads line the glassy surface, and I can only wonder what terrors are concealed inside. In my tree I can see the majority of the arena, but the majority of the arena cannot see me. Suddenly I hear footsteps and I look down. It's the boy from 4 chasing the girl from 3. He holds a throwing knife, and I see the girl from 3 stumble over a tree root. "Please," she begs, "please don't kill me." And then I don't think, I just do. I jump. And I land on the boy from 4. I immediately hear his neck crack, he falls to the ground, and a canon is fired.

I've just killed someone. My ruthless leap will be known to his family as the thing that ended their son's life. The girl from 3 is speechless. I would be too. A random stranger leaps from a tree and basically saves your life. And then she hugs me.

"Thank you" she mutters

"You're welcome" I say back. Our hug breaks and we just look at each other. We're about the same height, we're 12, and we're terrified. I help her up into the tree I hid in before and we sit across from each other on the highest limb. I know I can trust her.

"Did you grab anything from the cornucopia?" I ask. She's got nothing on her.

"No," she responds, almost embarrassed, "my mentor told me to just dart for the woods, that I wouldn't stand a chance if I were to try for supplies."

"Well that was probably smart, considering the fact that you're breathing right now," I smile.

"Yeah," she smiles sheepishly back. Her stomach then grumbles so loud I fear our location could be compromised. I then realize I haven't eaten in the arena yet either. I pull the nuts from my pack and offer a handful to her. "Here, take them." I pour them into her cupped hand and she seems hesitant at first. I down a handful in an instant as she carefully chews them, one at a time.

And then I ask what I've wanted to all along. "Have you seen my brother?"

She looks guilty, and then horrified, and then she responds. "Yes."


End file.
